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Nigerian man set to be executed for drug trafficking in Singapore

Friday, 11 November 2016

Nigerian man set to be executed for drug trafficking in Singapore

A Nigerian man, Chijioke Stephen Obioha, sentenced to death in Singapore for drug trafficking, has been set for execution on Friday, November 18, 2016.

According to Amnesty International, the date was communicated to the convicts family following Obioha conviction on December 30, 2008, and it looks like there will be no reversal after several appeals by the body to the Singaporean government to set aside the death sentence which is mandatory in that country.

AI, in a statement released on Thursday, November 10, noted that Obioha was arrested on April 9, 2007, and 2.6 kilograms of cannabis, surpassing the statutory amount of 500 grams that under Singapore law triggers the automatic presumption of trafficking, was found on him.
Also in Obioha possession were keys to a room containing additional prohibited substances, leading the authorities to presume him guilty of possession and knowledge of the drugs.
The convict who has run out of appeals against his conviction and sentence, had his last appeal rejected in 2015.
But maintaining his innocence of the crime, he initially refused to make use of his right to resentencing which amendments to Singapore’s mandatory’s death penalty laws made in 2013 allowed for.

“After the rejection of his clemency appeal in April 2015, his execution was set for May 15, 2015. It was stayed a day earlier to allow him to apply for resentencing.
His family was only informed on October 25, 2016, that he had resolved to withdraw his application for resentencing earlier in the year, following legal advice that he would not qualify as 'courier' under the amended laws.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal lifted the stay of execution with effect from October 24, resulting in the execution date to be set for November 18," AI noted.

Obioha who graduated in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Benin University, moved to Singapore in 2005, seeking to join a football club but fell into the arms of drug barons who used him as a courier.